“Waiting for the barbarians” by J. M. Coetzee
Introduction
John Maxwell Coetzee’s “Waiting for the barbarians” chronicles the sufferings and mysteries that occurred in a small colonial town. The town existed as the territorial boundary of the empire in which the narrator was a resident. An unknown magistrate narrates the story in the first person position by explaining the terrific events that took place in their town. The magistrate was a loyal servant of the Empire and his attempts were to ignore an unavoidable conflict with the “barbarians.” This implies that the novel was inspired by the brutal apartheid system in Cotetzees’s South Africa and applies to the values of power, torture and resistance among the residents. Although the novel focuses on the brutal regime of the frontier town, the magistrate plays crucial roles to ensure an end of the tortures and realization of freedom.
The colonists imposed a state of emergency on the barbarians due to the assumption that the indigenous people wanted to attack them. This led to the deployment of a unit called Third Bureau to torture the locals. Colonel Joll acted as the commander of the unit and issued orders of attack to the barbarians. The Third Bureau captured several people who faced torture and some killed because they refused to comply with the colonists. The magistrate’s roles were evident because he tried to fight for his people in attempts to secure them from the sufferings. For instance, the magistrate questions the legitimacy of colonialism in their land and personally nurses a barbarian girl who was left crippled after the brutal torture. Despite the magistrates moderate preferences, he shows to be a cruel observer of both his own attitude and that of those he encounters. His developing realization is harsh and brutal as it systematically exposes and ends his misconceptions about life and the world. This aspect is evident because the magistrate accommodates members of the Third Bureau, but finds himself pressed towards an unavoidable battle with the powers he has served with half-indifferent satisfaction for years. This role helps enhances the leadership attributes the magistrate used to control his people during the quiet days of the reign.
Throughout the entire novel, the audience is capable to associate to the magistrate through his inner thoughts and feelings, which are deep of some of the most essential human practises. For instance, the author introduces audiences to the magistrate’s experiences concerning aging, morals, sexuality, affection, bereavement, and self-actualization. This enables the magistrate narrate both his conscious plans and his hidden opinions through his dreams. The dreams give the audience a chance to familiarise with the roles of the magistrate in the empire. This is through involvement with the Third Bureau and the barbarians who depend on his support for existence and realization of their missions. Similarly, the most substantial of the literal features of the story are the ethical and moral enquiries that Coetzee raises. For instance, torture comes out as the dominant feature that the author exposes, in a bid, to show the devastating effects. Torture affects both individuals as well as the entire society through suffering and anguish to the victims and oppressors. Coetzee portrays the physical effects of cruelty on the barbarians through the young girl who became partially blind. The tormentors also damaged other people’s lives by inflicting pain on their loved ones and family members. As a result, the magistrate displays the emotional outcomes of being a part of the group that executes torment. This habit manifests in the fault that he routinely states through his dedication to the barbarian girl’s comfort and happiness. The role of the magistrate is crucial in the novel because he is the channel that discloses that torture is immoral. This is because the magistrate concludes that torture as an act and an institution is immoral and affects the well-being of the victims.
A brief raid by Joll and his men gets barbarian prisoners back to this borderline town, and the Magistrate observes in part the ruthless approaches of the Third Bureau in their mission for the truth. For instance, Joll forces truth out of the people by torturing them during interrogations. He says “First I get lies, you see- this is what happens, first lies, then pressure, then more lies, then more pressure. That is how you get the truth (Coetzee 5).” After the interrogations are over and the soldiers left, the magistrate decided to look after a barbarian girl whom he nurses back to health. This later develops into an intimate and sexual relationship between the girl and the magistrate. He wants to understand the circumstances that resulted in the girl being blind after the harassment by the Third Bureau soldiers. The girl assures him that there was nothing worse than what he saw happen.
The magistrate’s character is also portrayed as a man who has clearly used his powerful status to adore the company of women in the past. This is because he is left confused by the exploratory nature of his association with this barbarian girl. He discovered a contrast connection between his strange desire for the girl and the work of the departed oppressors. The relationship lands the magistrate into troubles when he decides to visit the frontier town without the girl. He faces arrest and imprisonment for allowing the cruel activities to happen in his presence without doing anything. The arrest comes because of breaking the bonds of his agreement with the Empire. He finds himself on the other side of the law contrary to his role in the frontier town. He is subjected to the similar brutal treatment that other prisoners endured, but he manages to escape from detention. The magistrate learns that nobody wants to associate with him after his behavior facilitated mistreatment of his own people. As a result, there is nowhere for him to run to because the other villagers have turned against his system. The barbarians rejoiced by the magistrate’s imprisonment by chanting, “from the oppression of such freedom who would not welcome the liberation of confinement (Coetzee 123)”
Coetzee uses the tribulations of the barbarians to expose the language of fear that regimes impose on their people. In this context, Coetzee looks at the thoughts of those who should protect the innocent, but joins the enemies in order to alleviate their own guilt. This implies that the barbarians’ endured torture while in the confined stations of power since the colonists applied the influence of their authority. The magistrate becomes a beggar after his confinement and the barbarians start receiving favors from the colonists. Eventually, the Third Bureau withdraws from the region and the magistrate upholds his authority through the will of the people. He is still unable to understand the mystery of his own existence after experiencing the challenges that others undergo through in their lives. The author states,
“Where civilization entailed the corruption of barbarian virtues and the creation of dependent people, I decided, I was opposed to civilization (Coetzee 109).”
Conclusion
J. M. Coetzee’s “Waiting for the barbarians” exposes the agony that barbarians undergo in their town. The narrator called magistrate facilitates the agonies through his collaboration with Joll. Joll was in-charge of the Third Bureau troop that subjected the barbarians to intense torture. This is because they believed that some barbarians wanted to cause trouble to their administration. This practice displays the varied habits and roles of the magistrate in the entire novel. For instance, the reader connects with the magistrate through his internal thoughts and feelings, which entail some of the essential human experiences. The magistrate’s character also portrays him as a man who has clearly used his status to lure women for comfort. This makes him arrested for not observing the rules of the tormentors when he decided to nurse the barbarian girl. The roles of the magistrate also demonstrate how any attempts to comprehend or to give voice to colonized people is a disappointment. This is because the colonizers are not free to express their ideas or opinions to the colonizer. As a result, this novel presents a story not only of failed regime, but also of failed people’s power to resist wrong doings. The magistrate behaves in strange manners that put his people through sufferings in their own town. The magistrate is honest when he nurses the young barbarian girl’s wounds because, as a human being, he also feels sympathy to other people.
Work Cited
Coetzee, J M. Waiting for the Barbarians. New York [u.a.: Penguin Books, 1999. Print.
